''Sabulina decumbens'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the family

Caryophyllaceae Caryophyllaceae, commonly called the pink family or carnation family, is a family (biology), family of flowering plants. It is included in the dicotyledon order Caryophyllales in the APG III system, alongside 33 other families, including Amaranth ...

known by the common names The Lassics sandwort and Lassicus stitchwort. The species was described in 1981 from the

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

observed on Mule Ridge in a string of peaks known as The Lassics.Nelson, T. W. & J. P. Nelson. (1981). A new species of ''Minuartia'' (Caryophyllaceae) from northwest California. ''Brittonia'' 33:2 162-4.

Description

''Sabulina decumbens'' is a low, mat-forming perennial herb growing a in a clump a few centimeters high from a thin, woody

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...

. The narrow, rigid, sometimes needle-like leaves are under a centimeter long and no more than 2 millimeters wide. The tiny flowers have purple-tipped

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

s a few millimeters long and five white petals which are slightly smaller.

Distribution

It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where it is known from only a single occurrence in the isolated inland mountains of the

North Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. Phy ...

in Trinity County near the Humboldt County line. It grows in the

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially an ...

s of the mountain forests among

Jeffrey Pine ''Pinus jeffreyi'', also known as Jeffrey pine, Jeffrey's pine, yellow pine and black pine, is a North American pine tree. It is mainly found in California, but also in the westernmost part of Nevada, southwestern Oregon, and northern Baja Califo ...

References

External links

''Sabulina decumbens''
Jepson eFlora
USDA Plants Profile: ''Minuartia decumbens''Flora of North America
decumbens Endemic flora of California Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of Trinity County, California Plants described in 1981 Critically endangered flora of California {{Caryophyllaceae-stub